After a summer of frustrating traffic backups, contractors are wrapping up work on the Lagoon Pond drawbridge.

Ayuthia, an 80-year-old wooden sailing vessel, made the first official passage through the new Lagoon Pond drawbridge Saturday morning.

At 2 p.m. Tuesday Melinda Loberg’s cherry red Jeep was the first vehicle to cross the new Lagoon Pond Bridge. Ms. Loberg honked her horn and her passengers Mark London and Scott Tuttle waved out the windows as the drawbridge officially opened to vehicular traffic.

As the years-long, hugely expensive Lagoon Pond drawbridge project enters its final phase, state contractors confirmed this week that the bridge must stay in the down position from Oct. 1 to Jan. 31.

The Lagoon Pond bridge will be closed to traffic the evening of Tuesday, Oct. 7. The bridge is scheduled to close at 7 p.m. and will reopen at 5 a.m. on Wednesday morning.

After nearly 10 years as a work in progress, the final phase of construction on the Lagoon Pond drawbridge in Tisbury is slated to begin this fall. “It’s been a long journey, I would say,” said Tisbury Department of Public Works director Fred LaPiana. “It’s nice to see it come to fruition.”